Sunday, November 10, 2013

Fall training update

I wanted to post about my current training status as well as what I have been up to the past few weeks since my last post.  I must say I have been really busy lately.  Even though fall is my off-season I tend to be busier than when I'm traveling and competing!  But everything is going great.  Training is going well, and the club seems to be in a good place.

I think it's safe for me to say I'm 100% healed from my Achilles injury that was bugging me for most of the late summer and early fall.  I finally listened to my coach, my body, and my support crew (doctors, physical therapists, etc.) and got it under control.  My base training is in full force as I am up to three workouts a week and full mileage.  It just feels good to be back with the team and training regularly again.  Now it's just time to play a little bit of catch up!  Without overdoing it of course.

Going back a few posts ago, I laid a general outline for a typical training week for myself.  Currently I am in a base, or strength, phase.  We are doing a lot of aerobic work with long intervals and short rest.  For example, on Monday the team did 8x1000meters with 2 minutes rest.  It was a good test for me to see where I am at physically.  Aerobic sessions tend to be a weak point for me so as much as it hurts, I enjoy going out and getting a real good strength workout under my belt.  Tuesday was a recovery day and Wednesday I had a 4 mile pace run broken up into two sets of 2 miles with a 5 minute break in between.  After recovering again on Thursday, Coach Gags cranked up the intensity a little bit and decreased the volume by giving us (300, 300, 300, 400)x2 on Friday.  It was a good workout to check-in on my fast twitch fibers, as we try to make sure we don't neglect them throughout our fall training.  That workout was followed by a long run of 14 miles on Saturday and a recovery run today.  My mileage is up to 65 miles per week right now and I plan on bumping that up a little bit to 70 miles a week for most of the year.  Each year I try to progress and I feel that my body can handle a little bit more mileage this year.

But enough about me...the NJ/NY Track Club has really been doing a lot lately to help promote the club as well as raise funds for our season ahead.  We had two great fundraisers on October 20 and 23.  First, we had a BBQ and picnic fundraiser in Pittstown, NJ, where folks came out and took part in our silent auction, played games with a lot of the athletes, and conversed with us to get to know each of us a little bit better.  It was a great turnout for the first fundraiser of the year, which was also a good way for us to lead into our other fundraiser of the Fall which took place at the Yale Club in New York City a few days later.  At the Yale Club, the athletes were able to speak with a lot of fans from the metropolitan area over some drinks and hor'dourves.  And for anyone who might visit the Yale Club, I suggest you try to get your hands on some of the Buffalo Chicken Spring Rolls.  They were the BOMB, for lack of a better phrase.

I would like to thank everyone that came out to support all of the athletes and coaches at both of our fundraisers.  Being able to interact with fans of the club is very rewarding for me.  It helps get me through some of the cruel workouts that Coach Gags will put us through, knowing that you are all there on the track with us rooting for our success.  Make sure to continually check out njnytc.com as we will be posting news of our races this winter, fundraisers that will be held in the future, and soon-to-be NJ/NY apparel for sale!

In other news, Starting Line Designs has started a petition that can be found here.  The petition was created in order to grab the attention of gaming companies and hopefully in the near future, we could find a track and field video game on the market.  Not a video game with Sonic or some other fictional character.  A game with real athletes and real competitions.  Click on the link above and there you'll be able to read more about the petition! Please sign it!

For questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to post below or email me directly at mikeruttrunning@gmail.com!